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“Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes)
Loaded on Jan. 10, 2017
by Lance Tapley
published in Prison Legal News
January, 2017, page 16
Filed under:
Commentary/Reviews,
Reviews,
Immigration,
Control Units/SHU/Solitary Confinement,
Tapes/Music.
Location:
Maine.
Written by George Swanson, a folksinger and Episcopal priest, this unusual folk opera tells how Victor Valdez, a sickly, working-class immigrant from the Dominican Republic, died in 2009 in solitary confinement at the Maine State Prison – and how the causes of his death were covered up.
The state prosecutor ...
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More from this issue:
- Culture of Abuse and Corruption Plagues Jail in Denver, Colorado, by Lonnie Burton
- Texas: Complaint Filed Over Contaminated Water, Conditions at Eastham Unit, by Panagioti Tsolkas
- Michigan: Contract for Prisoner Legal Writer Program Results in Controversy
- Rundown on California Propositions 57 and 64, by Kent A. Russell
- Illinois: DNA Evidence Exonerates One Man, Implicates Another
- Imprisoned Author Denied Access to His Own Published Writing
- Seventh Circuit Tells Wisconsin Probationer with Gender Dysphoria how to Proceed, by Matthew Clarke
- Georgia Prison Guards Face Sexual Assault Charges
- Judge Rips DOJ Lawyers for “Series of Misrepresentations,” Orders Ethics Training, by Derek Gilna
- Krome Detention Center has Long History of Detainee Abuse, by David Reutter
- $28.1 Million Jury Award after Eighth Circuit Allows Conspiracy Claims in Nebraska Wrongful Conviction Suit, by Matthew Clarke
- New York: Nearly $10 Million in Settlements Over Denial of Medical Care at Rikers Island
- Michigan’s Wayne County Jails Plagued with Inhumane Conditions
- Michigan: Corizon Audit Finds Deficiencies, State Extends and Expands Contract Anyway
- Model Mental Health Care Diversion System Started by Miami Judge, by David Reutter
- Nebraska: Portions of Lawsuit over Guard’s Sexual Assault Allowed to Proceed
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- Increased Access to Higher Education Programs for California Prisoners, by Christopher Zoukis
- Deaths Due to Neglect in U.S. Jails Reflect Nation’s Values , by David Reutter
- Mississippi: Hinds County Jails in Crisis, Face Mandated Reforms, by David Reutter
- New York DA Supervisor Engages in Kinky Fetishes, Wife Claims, by Derek Gilna
- Report Finds Charging Criminal Justice Fees Perpetuates Mass Incarceration, by Matthew Clarke
- Hawaii Warden Subjected Female Prisoners to “Shame Therapy”
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- Georgia’s Supreme Court Rules on Private Probation Services
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- Shackled South African Prisoner Beaten by GEO Guards Wins Lawsuit, by Derek Gilna
- Recurring Injury Subsequent to Lawsuit Settlement No Bar to New Claim
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- $325,002 Award to Michigan Prisoner Denied Medical Care for Joint Pain
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- California County Settles Class-action Lawsuit Over Jail Medical and Mental Health Care, by Matthew Clarke
- PLN Goes Undercover to Bust CCA Employees’ Misuse of Prisoner Labor
- Too Little, Too Late: Prosecutor Remorseful for Sending Innocent Man to Death Row, by David Reutter
- “Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes), by Lance Tapley
- From the Editor, by Paul Wright
- News in Brief
More from Lance Tapley:
- “Natural Causes Killed Victor: A Death in Solitary,” a folk opera by George Swanson (DVD, 55 minutes), Jan. 10, 2017
- Bonnie Kerness: Pioneer in the Struggle Against Solitary Confinement, July 9, 2014
- No Death Penalty for Maine Prisoner, April 15, 2014
- A Rare Look Inside the Maine State Prison's "Supermax", March 15, 2014
- Prison Reforms Under Maine’s New DOC Commissioner, March 15, 2013
- Solitary Confinement: Bad for Chimps, Okay for Humans?, Oct. 15, 2012
- Reform Comes to Maine Supermax: New commissioner cuts population by more than half; prisoner rights advocates help in the reform, Sept. 15, 2011
- Texas Tough: The Rise of America’s Prison Empire, by Robert Perkinson, Metropolitan Books/Holt, 484 pp (October 2010), $20.00 paperback, May 15, 2011
- Maine Governor Rakes in Private Prison Money, Shows Appreciation, April 15, 2011
- Mass Torture in America: Notes from the Supermax Prisons, Feb. 15, 2011
More from these topics:
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